Ciiii.u.i)  llisToijifiL  sonm 


1868. 


1  X  rRODlC  ]' 


Address, 


(  M '. 


\,    I'KI.SIDKX  I  ; 


ARNOLD, 

ACQU-fSltin  i   I!   N  I 

-,    Ol     AUKAFIAM     Ll\i' 
11     1,1  TMKR    HaVK-V, 

^  I  TTiiERS  Oi"  GHH.ACi(  >. 


[     1  ,  (  .   I  \ 


-+♦ 


♦+- 


Chicago  Historical  Society, 


NoVliMBER     19,    1868. 


Introductory  Address, 


Hon.  J.  YOUNG   SCAMMON,  President; 


ADDRESS, 


Hon.    ISAAC    N.   ARNOLD, 

OiviNc.  A  History  of  the  Society  and  its  Acquisitions  up  to  that 

Time,  with  Incidents  in  the  Lives  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and 

Major  Anderson;  also,  of  Luther  Haven, 

George  Manierre,  and  i/iher  Early  Settlers  of  Chicago. 


CHICAGO: 
FERGUS    PRINTING    COM!'  A  X  V, 

244 — 8    ILLINOIS    street. 
1877. 


INTRODUCTORY    NOTE. 


By  the  republication  of  Mr.  Arnold's  address,  before  the  Chicago  Histori- 
cal Society,  we  are  reminded  of  thi  great  loss  which  the  city  sustained  by  the 
entire  destniction  of  all  the  valuable  collections  of  that  Society.  Mr.  Arnold 
is  now  tha  President  of  the  Society,  and  vigorous  efforts  are  being  made  to- 
revive  the  Society.  It  is  hoped  that  a  new  building  will  be  erected  during  the 
present  year,  and  that  the  .Society  will  again  enter  upon  a  career  of  useful nessj, 
from  which  it  was  arrested  by  the  great  fire. 


Mr.  Scammon's  Address. 


The  Society  was  called  to  order  by  Hon.  J.  Young  Scammon, 
who  spoke  as  follows  : 

Ladiks  and  Gentlemen:  The  Chicago  Historical  Society 
gratefully  rejoices  in  being  able  to  exhibit  to  you  this  fine 
building,  and  so  much  of  a  great  public  library.  It  is  only  a  few 
years  since  some  gentlemen  met  together  in  the  upper  story  of 
a  building  on  LaSalle  Street,  when  there  was  scarcely  a  business 
house  south  of  us — the  one  where  we  met  being  between  Lake 
and  Randolph  Streets.  They  were  a  few  people  who  were 
desirous  of  doing  something  to  found  a  public  library  for  the 
City  of  Chicago.  The  leading  mind,  then,  was  the  Rev.  William 
Barry,  our  first  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Avho  is  now  in  Europe. 
From  that  movement  has  resulted  this  fine  edifice,  and  so  much 
of  the  great  public  library  as  we  now  possess. 

I  am  reminded  by  the  fact  that,  at  the  last  meeting  of  the 
Society  w^hich  1  had  the  pleasure  of  attending,  the  death  of  Mr. 
William  H.  Brown,  our  first  President,  was  announced,  and  that, 
on  this  day,  the  removal  to  the  si)iritual  world  of  the  last 
President  who  has  ever  presided  over  this  institution,  has  been 
made  known  through  the  public  press — of  the  transitory  character 
of  individual  life.  Such  events  should  deeply  impress  upon  the 
minds  of  all  the  necessity  that  those  of  us  who  desire  to  admin- 
ister upon  our  own  estates,  or  labor  for  this  and  similar  institu- 
tions, while  we  have  anything  to  work  with,  should  at  once  take 
hold  and  do  something  to  endow  the  i)ublic  institutions — th^ 
great  charities  which  we  owe  to  the  City  of  Chicago  and  to  the 
State  of  Illinois,  which  have  made  us  what  we  are. 

1  do  not  admit  that  any  man  who  endows  the  Chicago  His- 
torical Society,  the  University  of  Chicago,  the  Academy  of 
Sciences,  the  Chicago  Astronomical  Society,  or  any  other  of  our 
public  institutions,  is  a  mere  donor  to  the  public  good.  Every 
man  who  has  made  his  fortune,  or  found  his  home,  his  prosperity, 
or  his  happiness  in  this  land,  owes  it  to  the  public,  owes  it  to 
Chicago,  owes  it  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  owes  it  to  his  duty  and 


6  CHICAGO   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

his  God,  to  see  that  those  institutions,  which  it  is  our  duty  now  to 
found,  are  placed  upon  a  soHd  basis. 

The  great  want  of  this  institution,  at  the  present  time,  is 
pecuniary  means.  These  could  be  furnished  at  once  if  one- 
quarter  of  the  people  of  Chicago,  who  have  the  ability — an 
ability  gained  while  living  here — would  come  forward  and  do 
their  duty. 

If  one  hundred  men  would  follow  the  example  of  the  thirty 
who  have  already  become  Life  Members  and  paid  o\er  three 
hundred  dollars  each,  we  should  at  once  be  lifted  out  of  our 
present  embarrassment ;  and  two  hundred  permanent  members 
would  place  the  Society  beyond  all  want,  after  our  edifice  shall 
have  been  paid  for.  We  have  an  example  of  the  danger  of  a 
man  putting  off  the  carrying  out  of  his  intention  to  endow  this 
institution.  Mr.  Henry  D.  Gilpin,  of  Philadelphia,  former 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  whose  portrait  is  now 
before  you,  a  noble  man,  who  had  large  real  estate  in  Chicago, 
and  an  equally  great  heart,  left,  by  his  will,  a  legacy  to  this 
institution.  He  intended  to  found,  endow,  and  maintain  per- 
petually, a  dei)artment  of  this  institution,  and  there  is  a  provision 
for  it  in  his  will ;  but  legal  gentlemen  say  that  it  is  doubtful 
\\hether  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania  permit  his  executors  to  carr\' 
out  the  intention  of  the  testator ;  and  there  is  danger  of  losing 
the  legacy. 

All  that  we  have,  no  matter  how  much  we  may  call  our  own — 
all  that  we  have — is  ivhat  loe  possess  ivhile  we  have  the  poiuer  of 
using  it.  We  neither  own  that  which  we  leave  behind  us,  nor 
that  which  we  can  not  control.  We  can  only  administer  the 
powers  we  possess  while  living,  whether  they  are  intellectual, 
mental,  or  pecuniary.  The  duty  of  those  who  found  cities  and 
states  belongs  to  us — to  lay  the  foundation-stones  broad  and 
deep. 

It  is  not  my  desire  to  address  you  at  any  length  on  this  occa- 
sion. One  of  our  oldest  and  most  distinguished  members  has 
consented  to  perform  this  office.  It  remains  for  me  only  to  bid 
you  a  hearty  welcome  to  our  rooms  and  library,  while  I  request 
each  and  all  who  are  present  to  do  the  Society  the  honor  to  sub- 
scribe their  names  in  our  Autograph  Book,  which  now  lies  upon 
the  table  before  me.  I  have  the  honor  to  introduce  to  you  the 
Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  who  will  now  address  you. 


Mr.  Arnold's  Address. 


Mr.    President — Members    of    the   Historical    Society — 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

Our  meeting  this  evening  is  saddened  by  the  intelHgence,  just 
received,  of  the  melancholy  death,  upon  the  sea,  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  our  Society,  Walter  L.  Newberry.*  Litelligence  of  this 
mournful  event  reaches  us  so  late,  that  we  can  but  announce  the 
fact,  and  defer  to  some  future  occasion  the  rendition,  by  the  So- 
ciety, of  those  honors  to  his  memory,  which  all  feel  are  so  justly 
due  to  a  citizen  so  prominent,  a  man  so  just,  and  an  associate  so 
useful  and  efficient. 

CHICAGO    IN    ITS    INFANCY. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  more  striking  illustration  of  the  growth  of 
the  Republic  than  that  furnished  by  the  history  of  Chicago. 

On  the  loth  of  May,  1833,  thirty-five  years  ago,  the  few  set- 
tlers then  residing  here  organized  as  a  village,  and,  at  the  first 
election  of  Trustees,  there  were  cast,  in  all,  twenty-eight  votes; 
the  highest  vote  received  by  any  one  candidate  was  twenty-six, 
given  for  our  late  esteemed  fellow-citizen,  George  W.  Dole.  Four 
years  later,  the  people  of  the  town  asked,  and  obtained,  from  the 
Legislature,  a  City  Charter.  The  first  municipal  election  occurred 
in  May,  1837;  the  candidates  for  Mayor  were  William  B.  Ogden 
and  John  H,  Kinzie,  and  the  whole  number  of  votes  cast  were 
709,  of  which  Mr.  Ogden  received  a  small  majority.  A  census 
of  the  people  showed  a  population  of  4179. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  busy  activity  of  the  people,  then,  as 
now,  a  trait  so  characteristic,  I  may  mention,  that  the  persons 
taking  the  census,  being  required  by  law  to  report  the  occupation 
of  each  individual,  found  but  one  man  in  all  the  town  without 

*  By  the  death  of  the  only  surviving  children  of  Mr.  Newberry,  one-half  of 
his  very  large  estate  (estimated  at  from  three  to  five  or  six  millions  in  amount) 
is  left  in  trust  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  Public  Library  for 
Chicago,  to  be  located  in  the  north  division  of  the  City. 


8  CHICAGO   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

regular  employment,  and  this  one  they  designated  as  a  '•'•loafer.'^ 
Now,  that  the  population  of  the  city  is  nearly  300,000,  it  may, 
perhaps,  be  doubted,  whether  the  ratio  of  one  to  4000  has  not 
been  increased. 

ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Twelve  years  ago  last  April,  the  Historical  Society  of  Chicago 
was  organized.  A  few  gentlemen,  at  the  instance  of  Dr.  William 
Barry,  formed  an  Association  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  and 
preserving  the  memorials  of  history,  and  especially  of  the  history 
of  the  North-west,  and  were  chartered  b}-  the  name  of  "  The  Chi- 
cago Historical  Society. '^ 

The  founders  of  our  city,  those  who  have  made  its  history, 
many  of  them  still  live,  and  to-day  are  in  the  full  meridian  of 
their  activity  and  usefulness.  Those  who  founded  this  Institu- 
tion are  also,  most  of  them,  still  among  us.  The  first  organiza- 
tion was  made  on  the  24th  day  of  April,  1856,  and  the  Society 
was  first  composed  of  the  following  gentlemen :  William  H.  Brown,. 
William  B.  Ogden,  J.  Y.  Scammon,  M.  Brayman,  Mark  Skinner, 
Geo.  Manierre,  John  H.  Kinzie,  J-  V.  Z.  Blaney,  E.  I.  Tinkham, 
J.  D.  Webster,  Rev.  A.  Smallwood,  Van  H.  Higgins,  N.  S.  Davis^ 
Chas.  H.  Ray,  S.  D.  W^ard,  M.  D.  Ogden,  Dr.  F.  Scammon,  E.  B. 
McCagg,  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  Barry,  and  I.  N.  Arnold. 

The  first  officers  of  the  Society  were  Wm.  H.  Brown,  President; 
Wm.  B.  Ogden  and  J.  Y.  Scammon,  Vice  Presidents;  S.  D.  Ward,^ 
Treasurer;  Rev.  Wm.  Barry,  Recording  Secretary  and  Librarian: 
and  Chas.  H.  Ray,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

From  this  beginning,  down  to  the  present  time,  the  Society  has 
been  small  in  the  number  of  its  members,  and  with  very  limited 
pecuniary  means  at  its  disposal ;  it  has  pursued  its  course  unos- 
tentatiously and  (juietly,  but  with  an  industry  and  perseverance 
which  have  been  crowned  with  very  gratifying  results. 

"its    TREASURES." 

^Vhen  we  look  upon  this  spacious  and  perfectly  fire-proof  struc- 
ture,"''' which,  with  the  grounds  belonging  to  the  Society,  cost 
about  $60,000, — these  grounds  ample  for  future  enlargement; 
when  we  enter  these  walls  and  examine  our  treasures,  we  have 
reason  to  be  well  satisfied.     \\'e  have  of 

*This  statement  was  made,  of  course,  before  the  great  fire  of  1871  demon- 
strated its  error. 


HON.    ISAAC    N.    ARNOLDS   ADDRESS.  9 

Bound  volumes 15,412 

Pamphlets 72,104 

P'iles  of  Newspapers 1,738 

Manuscripts 4,689 

Maps  and  Charts 1,200 

Cabinet  collections 380 

Miscellaneous  (including  prints) 4,682 

Making  an  aggregate  of 100,205 

gathered  in  twelve  years. 

"doctor    BARRY." 

Of  those  who  were  with  us  in  the  first  organization  of  the  So- 
ciety all  but  seven  still  survive,  and  many  additional  names  of 
efficient  working  members  have  been  added  to  our  list.  It  is  not 
for  me  to  speak,  to-day,  of  those  who  have  labored  so  faithfully  in 
gathering  these  historic  and  literary  treasures.  But  I  may,  I  think, 
without  being  invidious,  refer  to  our  first  Secretary  and  Librarian, 
Dr.  Barry,  now  absent  in  Eurojje,  who,  more  than  any  other  one 
man,  was  the  founder  of  the  Society. 

From  the  first  President,  W.  H.  Brown,  and  his  successor,  W. 
L.  Newberry,  he  received  always  the  most  efficient  and  active  co- 
operation. 

"HON.    WILLIAM    H.     HROWX,    LUTHER    HAVEN,    AND    GEORGE 
>L\NIERRE."' 

Other  voices  and  other  pens,  in  other  days,  will  do  justice  to 
those  who  founded  and  have  fostered  this  Institution;  but  it  is 
impossiljle,  on  such  an  occasion  as  this,  to  forget  those,  among  the 
earliest  and  most  active  of  our  members,  whose  labors  are  fin- 
ished, the  volume  of  whose  earthly  history  has  been  closed.  I 
may  mention,  among  such,  William  H.  Brown,  our  first  President, 
the  early  settler,  whose  able  pen  powerfully  aided  in  saving  our 
noble  State  from  the  curse  of  Slavery;  Luther  Haven,  the  honest 
man,  the  faithful  friend,  the  upright  public  officer,  the  model 
American  citizen,  as  true  and  devoted  to  this  country  as  ever  was 
the  noblest  citizen  of  Rome;  George  Manierre,  the  learned  law- 
yer and  upright  judge,  whose  judicial  character  was  as  pure  as 
that  of  a  Marshall  or  a  Kent. 

JOHN    H.     KINZIE. 

Of  our  hte  associate.  Col.  John  H.  Kinzie,  1  may  speak  some- 


10  CHICAGO    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

what  more  fully;  although  time  will  not  permit  me  to  attempt 
■doing  justice  to  his  very  interesting  life  and  character. 

No  one  has  been  more  identified  with  Chicago,  from  its  first 
settlement  to  the  day  of  his  death,  than  he.  He  was  born  on  the 
7th  day  of  July,  1803;  his  family  then  residing  at  Detroit.  While 
an  infant  he  was  carried,  in  an  Indian  cradle,  to  the  banks  of  the 
St.  Joseph  River,  in  Michigan. 

In  1804,  he  was  brought,  by  his  father,  to  Chicago,  the  family 
arriving  on  the  4th  day  of  July,  and  coming  in  company  with 
Major  Whistler,  with  troops  to  construct  Fort  Dearborn.  The 
family  took  up  their  residence  on  the  north  side  of  the  Chicago 
River,  nearly  opposite  the  Fort,  and  here  he  spent  his  infancy, 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  18 12.  At  the  time  of  the 
Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  which  took  place  in  181 2 — an  event 
which  has  been  so  well  described  by  the  graphic  pen  of  the  widow 
of  Mr.  Kinzie — he  was  nine  years  old.  The  manner  in  which 
the  family  was  preserved,  amidst  the  horrors  of  that  massacre, 
illustrates  the  gratitude  of  the  Indians  for  many  acts  of  kindness 
received  from  the  family.  Some  Chiefs,  knowing  what  was  to  be 
done  by  their  young  men,  whom  they  professed  to  be  unable  to 
restrain,  guarded  the  boat  in  which  was  Mrs.  Kinzie  and  her  chil- 
dren; protected  them  until  the  fight  was  over,  and  then  carefully 
escorted  them  in  safety  to  the  St.  Joseph  River.  The  family  went 
to  Detroit,  remained  there  until  after  its  capture  by  Gen.  Har- 
rison, and  until  18 16,  when  they  returned  to  their  desolate  home 
at  Chicago.  The  bones  of  the  soldiers,  murdered  by  the  Indians 
at  the  time  of  the  massacre,  four  years  before,  were  still  lying 
unburied  on  the  prairie  near  the  lake  shore,  where  the  troops  had 
been  ambushed  and  killed.  The  troops  who  rebuilt  Fort  Dear- 
born collected  these  remains  and  interred  them  near  the  place 
where  Madison  Street,  if  extended,  would  now  intersect  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad.  The  construction  of  the  Chicago  harbor 
caused  the  waters  of  the  lake  to  encroach  upon  the  shore,  so  that 
the  coffins  in  which  these  remains  were  placed  were  exposed,  and 
it  became  necessary  to  inter  them  in  a  place  of  greater  security. 

In  1 8 18,  being  then  in  his  sixteenth  year,  voung  Kinzie  was 
taken  by  his  father  to  Mackinaw,  to  be  indentured  to  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Company.  It  was  at  Mackinaw,  during  the  long  isola- 
tion of  the  winter  months,  that  he  learned  to  play  the  violin,  his 
instructress  being  a  half-breed  Indian  woman.     The  early  settlers 


HON.    ISAAC   N.   ARNOLD'S   ADDRESS.  '  I  I 

of  Chicago  should  ever  hold  in  grateful  remembrance  this  Indian 
woman,  for  none  of  them  will  ever  forget  the  music  with  which 
Col.  Kinzie  enlivened  so  many  of  our  early  social  gatherings.  In 
1824,  he  was  transferred  from  Mackinaw  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and 
there  he  learned  the  language  of  the  Winnebagoes,  and  compiled, 
in  part,  a  grammar  of  their  tongue.*  Previous  to  this,  on  attaining 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  had  visited  his  parents  at  Chicago, 
coasting  in  a  small  row-boat  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Michigan 
all  the  way  from  Mackinaw. 

Some  time  before  1826,  he  received  an  invitation  from  Gen. 
Lewis  Cass,  then  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  to  be- 
come his  Private  Secretary.  While  associated  with  Gen.  Cass, 
who  was  ex-officio  Superintendent  of  the  Northern  Tribes,  he  was 
engaged  in  many  treaties  and  negotiations  with  the  red-men.  His 
influence  over  them  was  great,  and  such  was  the  confidence  they 
placed  in  his  integrity  that  he  was  often  called  by  the  Chiefs  to 
stand  by  their  side  during  their  '■'■ia/ks"  with  the  "^4''  ^^"i'^'cs,' 
and  to  tell  them  whether  what  was  said  was  truthfully  interpreted. 
While  in  the  service  of  General  Cass  he  was  sent  to  Northern 
Ohio  to  study  the  language  of  the  Wyandotte  Indians.  Such 
was  his  familiarity  with  the  Indian  dialects  that  he  rapidly  learned 
their  language  and  compiled  a  grammar  of  it  also.  In  1829,  he 
was  appointed  Indian  Agent,  and  fixed  his  residence  at  Fort  Win- 
nebago. He  married  in  1830,  and  continued  to  reside  for  some 
time  with  his  "red  children,"  by  whom  he  was  ever  regarded  as  a 
kind  and  watchful  "Father." 

In  1833,  the  Kinzie  family  having  established  their  pre-emption 
to  the  cjuarter  section  on  which  the  family  residence  had  stood 
since  1804,  Col.  Kinzie  (such  was  his  title  as  aid  to  (ien.  Cass) 
came  with  Lieut.  David  Hunter,+  who  had  married  his  sister,  to 
Chicago,  and  together  they  laid  out  '■'■  Kinzie s  Addition."  In  1834, 
he  came  to  Chicago  with  his  family  to  reside.  He  was  the  first 
President  of  the  village,  and  from  that  time  until  his  death  he  held 
various  offices  of  honor  and  trust,  receiving  appointments  from 
Presidents  Harrison,  Taylor,  and  Lincoln.  He  was  ever  faithful, 
honest,  and  upright,  and,  although  his  whole  life  was  passed  upon 
the  frontier,  he  was,  in  morals  and  manners,  the  model  of  a  Chris- 

*He  was  adopted  by  the  Winnebagoes,  who  conferred  upon  him  the  name 
of  " Shaw-nee-aii-kee." 
f  Now  General  Hunter. 


12  CHICA(]0    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

tian  gentleman.  A  kinder  and  more  benevolent  heart  never  beat. 
Chicago  may  have  lost  citizens  of  higher  positions,  but  no  one 
more  beloved  and  cherished,  by  all  who  knew  him,  than  John  H. 
Kinzie. 

These  are  among  the  names,  the  records  of  whose  lives  shall  be 
preserved,  not  only  upon  the  pages  of  our  Historical  Society,  but 
upon  the  annals  of  our  City  and  State. 

THE    NEW    LIBRARY    ROOM. 

I  have  alluded  to  our  success  as  a  Society,  the  richness  and 
variety  of  these  treasures  of  learning,  and  I  congratulate  you  upon 
our  getting  into  these  new,  attractive,  quiet,  and  safe  quarters. 
This,  I  trust,  will  be  the  beginning  of  a  new  epoch  in  the  history 
of  our  Society,  and  that,  from  this  time,  Ave  shall  take  a  new 
departure. 

When  we  pass  around  these  alcoves,  look  over  these  crowded 
shelves,  and  count  up  our  acquisitions,  I  think  we  may  appeal 
with  some  confidence  to  our  fellow-citizens  for  their  aid  and  coun- 
tenance in  the  future. 

"the    LIBRARY."' 

Little  more  than  twelve  years  have  elapsed  since  our  organiza- 
tion; twelve  years,  the  most  eventful  and  important  in  American 
history.  If  we  have  done  nothing  else,  we  may  look  over  our 
acquisitions,  in  the  shape  of  materials  for  contemporaneous  his- 
tory, with  the  consciousness  that  in  the  days  to  come  the  histo- 
rian, who  may  wish  to  study  the  great  conflict  through  which  the 
i"epublic  has  lately  passed,  will  find  the  materials  upon  our  shelves 
to  an  extent  equal,  it  is  believed,  with  those  of  any  otlier  collec- 
tion in  the  land.  Our  library  is  believed  to  be  nearly  complete 
in  the  documents  and  publications  of  the  United  States  (iovern- 
ment,  in  every  department,  from  its  organization  down  to  the 
present  time.  This  is,  also,  true  of  the  Territorial  and  State  Gov- 
ernments of  Illinois,  including  all  the  laws,  journals,  and  records- 
of  every  department.  We  have  large  collections  of  the  docu- 
ments of  the  North-western  Territories  and  States;  and  especial 
eff"orts  were  made  by  the  late  Secretary,  Dr.  Barry,  to  collect  the 
session  laws  and  legislative  records  of  all  the  Colonies,  and  of  all 
the  States  and  Territories  from  their  first  organization  down.  We 
have  those  of  Virginia  for  two  hundred  years;  those  of  Massachu- 
setts, very  nearly  complete,  from  the  beginning;  those  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  New  Jersey  for  one  hundred  years;  and  those  of  the 


HON.    ISAAC    N.    ARNOLD'S    ADDRKSS.  1 3 

Western  States,  including  Ohio,  nearly  perfect.  'I"he  value  of 
these,  for  reference  and  as  exhibiting  ])recedents  in  legislation  and 
as  illustrating  the  history  of  the  Republic,  will  be  appreciated  by 
all  scholars,  statesmen,  legislators,  and  historical  inquirers. 

EARLY    HISTORY    OF    AMERICA. 

Very  considerable  progress  has  been  made  in  obtaining  a  com- 
plete collection  of  early  American  history,  running  back  to  the 
first  discoveries  and  settlements  in  the  si.xteenth  centur\',  and 
down  to  the  period  of  the  Revolution. 

EARLY    HISTORY    OF    THE    WEST. 

In  the  early  history  of  the  West — all  that  is  known  of  Indian 
tradition  and  history,  the  French  discoveries,  exploration.s,  settle- 
ments, and  missionary  efforts,  a  history  full  of  romantic  interest, 
wild  adventure,  and  thrilling  incident,  the  English  discoveries  and 
settlements,  and  the  war  between  France  and  Great  Britain,  which 
involved  their  colonies — our  collections  are  especially  rich,  \^'e 
have  the  narratives  of  the  earliest  explorers  of  the  North-west, 
including,  among  others,  Charlevoix,  La  Salle,  Hennepin,  Mar- 
quette, with  many  rare  maps  and  charts  of  the  New  World  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 

THE    EARLY    FRENCH    MISSIONARIES. 

There  is  no  more  romantic  page  in  American  history  than  that 
which  records  the  efforts  of  the  French  Missionaries  and  explorers 
to  plant  the  Lily  and  the  Cross,  emblems  of  France  and  Christian- 
ity, in  the  West.  They  dotted  the  continent  from  Quebec  along 
the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  great  lakes,  and  by  Detroit, 
Mackinaw,  Kaskaskia,  and  St.  Louis,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  with 
their  missionary  stations  and  settlements.  In  these  settlements 
prevailed  an  innocent  gayety,  a  purity  of  manners,  and  an  almost 
Acadian  simplicity,  such  as  Longfellow  has  scarcely  exaggerated 
in  "Evangeline." 

The  French  were  superseded  by  a  bolder,  hardier,  fiercer  race, 
which  had  its  representative  men  in  such  as  Gen.  George  Rogers 
Clarke  and  Daniel  Boone,  men  of  iron  frames  and  of  iron  wills — - 
fit  founders  of  States  and  Commonwealths.  These  early  annals 
of  the  North-west  need  but  the  pen  of  a  Scott,  a  Cooper,  or  an 
Irving  to  make  the  Lakes  and  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  country 
as  attractive  in  romantic  association  as  these  writers  have  ren- 


1 4  CHICAGO    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

dered  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  and  the  Hudson  and  Susque- 
hanna of  New  York. 

CANADIAN    HISTORY. 

The  important  commercial  relations  between  the  North-west 
and  the  British  Colonies,  which  border  the  lakes  and  the  banks  of 
their  great  outlet,  and  the  early  connection  between  them,  have 
led  to  important  collections  of  Canadian  history,  statistics,  and 
topography. 

The  materials  for  the  history  of  the  North-west,  its  early  ex- 
plorers, its  settlements,  its  Indian  wars,  its  institutions  of  educa- 
tion and  religion,  its  politics,  the  growth  and  settlements  of  its 
towns  and.  cities,  its  commerce  and  trade,  its  vast  system  of  rail- 
roads, have  been  carefi.illy  gathered  and  preserved,  and,  it  is 
believed,  are  possessed  by  our  Society  in  greater  fulness  and 
completeness  than  can  be  found  elsewhere. 

MAPS    AND    CHARTS. 

In  maps  and  charts,  in  manuscripts,  in  newspapers  and  pam- 
phlets, w^e  have  materials  of  great  value,  illustrating,  to  some 
extent,  every  period  in  American  history. 

THE    REBELLION NEWSPAPERS    AND    PAMPHLETS. 

But  probably  the  most  valuable  of  the  acquisitions  of  our  So- 
ciety are  its  large  collections  of  books,  pamphlets,  newspapers, 
manuscripts,  and  maps  relating  to  the  Rebellion.  Our  late  ever- 
vigilant  Secretary,  Dr.  Barry,  foreseeing  the  conflict,  had  made 
one  of  the  largest  collections  of  books  and  pamphlets  upon  the 
subject  of  slavery  and  the  anti-slavery  movement  in  the  United 
States  in  existence. 

When  the  Rebellion  broke  out  he,  in  connection  with  other 
members  of  the  Society,  made  comprehensive  efforts  to  secure  all 
that  was  of  value  in  the  contemporaneous  history  of  this  great 
struggle.  It  is  believed  that  in  books,  pamphlets,  newspapers, 
letters,  and  manuscripts,  illustrating  the  war,  its  causes,  its  history 
in  the  field  and  in  civil  life,  in  its  military,  financial,  and  legisla- 
tive departments,  few,  if  any,  collections  are  more  complete  than 
ours. 

I  need  hardly  say  that,  having  made  this  department  a  sjiecialty 
during  the  progress  of  the  conflict,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  continue  our  eff^orts  in  this  direction  until  we  shall  have  in  our 
collection  everything  which  can  illustrate  this  most  interesting 
period  in  American  history. 


HON.    ISAAC   N.    ARNOLDS   ADDRESS.  !> 

NWTIONAL    .\ND    STATE    PUBLICATION.S. 

Our  Society  has  arrangements  by  which  it  receives  all  the  pub- 
lications of  the  National  (iovernment  and  those  of  the  State  of 
Illinois  and  several  of  the  other  States.  We  receive  all  the  pub- 
lications of  the  Smithsonian  Institute  and  several  other  scientific 
institutions,  and  have  established  regular  exchanges  with  a  large 
number  of  learned  societies,  including  most  of  the  State  and  local 
historical  societies  of  the  country. 

I  have  thus  stated,  in  brief,  what  the  Society  has  accomplished, 
and  have  endeavored  to  give  some  idea  of  its  means  of  useful- 
ness. We  have,  as  you  see,  ample  room  in  which  to  place  its 
acquisitions  in  a  position  for  convenient  reference,  study,  and 
examination,  and  in  a  place  of  absolute  safety. 

AX    INCIDENT. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  rapid  growth  of  our  State,  and  the  rich 
field  of  local  historical  research  open  before  us,  permit  me  to 
digress  long  enough  to  narrate  an  incident  which  will,  I  think, 
interest  you. 

Most  of  you  have  seen  the  beautiful  and  flourishing  town  of 
Dixon,  on  Rock  River,  named  after  the  venerable  man  who  liter- 
ally pitched  his  tent  and  built  his  solitary  cabin  on  its  site,  less 
than  forty  years  ago. 

In  1832,  John  Dixon  kept  the  ferry  across  Rock  River,  and  the 
latch-string  of  his  hospitable  home  was  never  drawn  in  against  the 
stranger.  The  Black-Hawk  War  was  pending,  and  settlers  and 
whole  families  had  been  killed  and  scalped  upon  the  prairie.  The 
National  Government  sent  Gen.  Scott,  with  some  regular  troops, 
to  Chicago,  and  to  these  were  added  some  companies  of  Illinois 
mounted  volunteers,  called  out  by  Governor  Reynolds,  to  aid  in 
protecting  the  settlers  and  chastising  the  Indians. 

Among  the  regulars  who  met  on  the  banks  of  Rock  River,  at 
the  crossing  then  called  "Dixon's  Ferry,"  under  the  immediate 
command  of  (ieneral  Atkin.son,  were  Lieutenant-Colonel  Zachary 
Taylor,  subsequently  President  of  the  United  States;  Lieutenant 
Robert  Anderson,  the  hero  of  Fort  Sumpter;  Lieutenant  Jefferson 
Davis,  and  Private  Abraham  Lincoln^  of  Captain  lies'  company  of 
Illinois  Mounted  Rangers.*  These  facts  I  received  from  John 
Dixon,  a  hale  man  of  more  than  eighty  years,  still  living.t     An- 

*  See  note  on  page  19.  tNow  deceased. 


l6  CHICAGO    HISTORIC.iT.    SOCIETY. 

derson  and  Davis  were  young  lieutenants,  just  from  West  Point, 
and  Lincoln  was  a  tall  and  boyish-looking  young  man  of  twenty- 
two.  So  far  as  I  know,  our  fellow-citizen,  (kirdon  S.  Hubbard,  is 
the  only  living  citizen  of  Chicago  who  was  engaged  in  tliis  expe- 
dition against  Black-Hawk. 

When  Major  Anderson  visited  Washington,  after  his  evacua- 
tion of  Fort  Sumpter,  he  called  at  the  W'hite  House  to  pay  his 
respects  to  the  President.  After  the  Chief  Magistrate  had  ex- 
pressed his  thanks  to  Anderson  for  his  conduct  in  South  Carolina, 
Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "Major,  do  you  remember  of  ever  meeting  me 
before?"'  "No,'"  replied  Anderson,  "I  have  no  recollection  of 
ever  ha\ing  had  that  pleasure."'  "My  memory  is  better  than 
yours,"  said  Lincoln.  "You  mustered  me  into  the  United  States 
service,  as  a  high  private  of  the  Illinois  volunteers,  at  Dixon's 
Ferry,  in  the  Black-Hawk  War." 

Father  Dixon,  the  ferryman,  and  guide  of  the  United  States 
forces,  and  even  then  well  known  by  the  Winnebagdes  as  "A'r?- 
/:/iHsa"  or  "Whitehead,"  says  that  in  all  the  marches,  whenever 
the  forces  approached  a  grove  or  depression,  in  which  an  Indian 
ambush  might  be  concealed,  and  scouts  were  sent  forward  to  ex- 
amine the  cover,  Lincoln  was  the  first  man  selected;  and  he  adds 
that  while  many,  as  they  approached  the  place  of  suspected  am- 
bush, found  an  excuse  for  dismounting  to  adjust  girths  or  saddles, 
Lincoln"s  saddle  was  always  in  perfect  order.  '■'■JVac/iusa"  adds 
two  or  three  other  facts  in  regard  to  Lincoln :  One  was  that 
while  the  little  army  was  encamped  around  the  Ferry,  every  even- 
ing, when  off  duty,  Lincoln  could  be  found  sitting  on  the  grass, 
with  a  group  of  soldiers,  eagerly  listening  to  his  stories,  of  which 
his  supply  seemed,  even  at  that  early  day,  inexhaustible;  and  that 
no  one  could  induce  the  young  volunteer  to  taste  the  whiskey 
which  his  fellow-soldiers,  grateful  for  the  amusement  which  he 
aftbrded  them,  often  pressed  upon  him. 

THE    society's    FIELD    OF    USEFULNESS. 

Permit  me  to  add  some  considerations  which  should  secure  for 
this  Institution  the  aid  of  the  public. 

Its  field  of  usefulness  is  not  less  broad  and  national  than  that 
of  any  similar  institution  in  the  country. 

The  position  of  Chicago,  as  the  metropolitan  city  of  the  North- 
west, is,  I  suppose,  fixed.     Its  vast  railroad  system,  its  lake  com- 


HON.   ISAAC    N.   ARNOLDS   AUDRKSS.  IJ 

iiierce  through  New  York  and  by  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  ocean, 
its  connection,  by  canal,  with  the  great  central  river  of  the  conti- 
nent; already  the  great  depot,  of  the  staples  of  an  agricultural  dis- 
trict continental  in  its  extent;  the  centre  of  the  products  of  the 
forest,  the  mines,  and  the  fields  of  the  great  central  regions  of 
the  Republic;  soon,  by  means  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  to  be  the 
great  distributor  of  the  products  of  the  old  Asiatic  world,  as  it 
now  is  of  the  new,  it  must  of  necessity  be  the  great  city  of  the 
interior,  perhaps  of  the  nation. 

If  Chicago,  already  so  eminent  in  many  things,  aspires  to 
become  also  a  literary  centre,  and  to  irradiate  the  great  valley  of 
which  she  is  the  commercial  representative,  she  must  foster  with 
liberal  aid  and  generous  appreciation  her  literary  institutions; 
more,  she  must  encourage  and  honor  men  of  culture,  letters,  and 
science. 

Her  merchant  princes  must  learn  that  while  it  is  something  to 
build  an  elevator,  to  make  a  harbor,  to  open  a  canal,  to  construct 
a  railroad,  it  is  also  something  equally  honorable,  at  least,  to  found  a 
library,  to  establish  a  college,  a  university,  or  a  school  of  learning. 

No  one  doubts  that  our  citizens  have  the  bold  enterprise,  the 
sleepless  activity,  the  earnestness,  and  energy  which  will  enable 
them  to  make  the  most  of  their  material  advantages,  but  no  wise 
citizen  will  be  satisfied  with  this.  It  is  time  for  Chicago  to  aim 
at  a  generous  emulation  with  her  sisters  in  the  arts,  in  taste,  in 
letters,  in  all  those  pursuits  which  give  grace,  elevation,  and  dig- 
nity to  the  human  intellect  and  character. 

Chicago  must  not  follow  Carthage,  or  Venice,  or  Liverpool,  or 
Amsterdam,  alone,  as  models:  let  her  learn,  also,  from  Alexan- 
dria, Athens,  and  Florence. 

It  is  time,  I  think,  that  our  local  pride,  of  which,  perhaps,  we 
have  a  qiunitiiin  sufficit,  should  adopt  higher  objects.  It  is  time 
for  a  new  advance. 

We  have  boasted  long  enough  of  our  grain-elevators,  our  rail- 
roads, our  trade  in  wheat  and  lumber,  our  business  palaces;  let  us 
now  have  libraries,  galleries  of  art,  scientific  museums,  noble  archi- 
tecture, and  public  parks,  specimens  of  landscape  gardening,  and 
a  local  literature:  otherwise  there  is  danger  that  Chicago  will 
become  merely  a  place  where  ambitious  young  men  will  come  to 
make  money  and  achieve  a  fortune,  and  then  go  elsewhere  to 
enjoy  it.     You  must  have  culture,  taste,  beauty,  art,  literature,  or 

2 


l8  CHICAGO    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

there  is  danger  that  our  city  will  become  a  town  of  mere  traders 
and  money -getters;  rude,  unlettered,  hard,  sharp,  and  grasping. 
Let  us  sow  the  seed  generously,  and,  even  if  we  do  not  ourselves- 
live  to  gather  the  fruit,  those  who  shall  hereafter  reap  the  harvest 
will  bless  the  sowers. 

THE    SEAT    OF    EMPIRE. 

There  is  one  other  consideration  to  which  I  wish  to  allude,. 
which  adds  vastly  to  the  importance  of  our  field  of  labor  and  the 
responsibility  of  those  who  are  to  shape  the  future  of  the  great 
central  regions  of  the  Republic. 

Early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  while  the  British  colonies  were 
still  feeble,  and  so  near  the  sea  that  the  roar  of  its  waves  were  yet 
resounding  in  their  ears,  an  English  writer,  in  a  fervor  of  prophetic 
inspiration,  exclaimed : 

"Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way, 
The  four  first  acts  already  past, 
The  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day ; 
Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

To-day  it  needs  no  prophecy  to  see  that  the  "Star  of  Empire"" 
will  rest  upon  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Here  in  this 
great  central  region  of  the  Republic,  is  to  be — perhaps,  since  the 
close  of  the  great  rebellion,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  is  a/ready — 
the  seat  of  empire.  It  is  a  truth,  which  the  world  is  learning  to 
recognize,  that  the  people  of  the  great  valley  are  likely  to  be 
broader  and  more  national  in  their  views,  less  sectional,  perhaps 
less  provincial,  than  their  brethren  east  and  south. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  the  leading  minds  of  the  late  war — 
those  who  controlled  events  in  civil  and  military  affairs — most  of 
them  originated  and  were  trained  in  the  West.  Lincoln,  the  mas- 
ter spirit,  the  representative  American  of  the  age,  drawing  his 
great  ideas  from  the  region  of  which  he  Avas  the  outgrowth ;  Chase, 
who,  as  a  financier,  was  not  inferior  to  the  younger  Pitt;  Stanton, 
the  war  minister,  of  whom  it  has  been  so  often  said,  as  it  was  of 
Carnot,  "He  organized  victory;"  Grant,  the  ever-victorious;  Sher- 
man, whose  pen  was  as  sharp  as  his  sword ;  the  dashing  Sheridan, 
the  equal  of  the  ablest  of  Napoleon's  marshals — all  of  them,  except 
Chase,  born  and  raised  west  of  the  Alleghanies :  and  the  Minister 
of  Finance  came  so  early  to  the  West  that  its  influence  is  clearly 
marked  in  his  character. 

What  is  done  here,  then,  in  this  great  central  city  of  the  conti- 


HON.    ISAAC   X.    ARNOLD'S   ADDRESS.  I9 

nent,  this  half-way  house  between  the  two  oceans,  is  to  influence, 
for  good  or  evil,  our  whole  country,  from  sea  to  sea.  The  respon- 
sibility of  a  vast  future  is  upon  us.  We  cannot  escape  it.  "No 
personal  significance  or  insignificance,"  in  the  language  of  our 
great  representative  man,  "can  relieve  us  from  it."  What  we  do, 
or  leave  undone,  will  tell  over  a  vast  area  and  upon  an  untold 
future  for  good  or  evil.  Let  us  rise  to  the  magnitude  of  our  posi- 
tion and  our  duties.  Let  us  make  this  hall  the  recei)tacle  of  all 
the  treasures  of  the  i)ast;  let  us  gather  here  all  that  there  is  in  the 
way  of  mans  jiast  history,  which  may  serve  to  aid,  guide,  and  to 
enlighten  in  the  difficulties  of  the  future.  Within  these  walls  the 
merchant,  the  artisan,  the  statesman  may  come,  away  from  the 
noisy  world  outside,  and  commune  with  the  great  spirits  of  all 
ages.  Here  the  poets,  the  moralists,  the  orators,  the  law-givers, 
the  philosophers,  and  statesmen  of  all  ages  and  nations,  may  be 
consulted  as  guides  and  advisejs.  Here,  especially,  let  us  jjrovide 
that  every  student  of  American  history  may  follow  our  nation  from 
its  feeblest  beginnings,  through  Indian,  colonial,  revolutionary,  and 
progressive  annals,  down  to  and  through  the  recent  great  drama 
of  civil  war;  and  doing  this,  we  shall  ourselves  do  something  wor- 
thy of  being  remembered. 


NOTE 


A  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Tribune  having  questioned  the  statement 
in  the  text  that  Mr.  Lincoln  ever  served  as  a  ])rivate  in  the  Black-Hawk  War, 
I  annex  the  following  letter  from  Capt.  Elijah  lies: 

Si'RiNCi-iKi.n,  III.,  December -j,  186S. 
Mr.  I.  X.  Arnulu — Dear  Sir:  I  have  yours,  making  the  inquiry  whether 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  member  of  my  company  in  the  Black- 1  lawk  War,  and  the 
incidents  of  the  campaign.  In  reply,  I  answer  that  he  was  a  member  of  my 
company  a  portion  of  the  time,  before  the  close  of  the  war,  and  received  an 
honorable  discharge.  The  incidents  are  about  as  follows:  In  the  spring  of 
1832,  (jov.  Reynolds  made  a  call  for  volunteers,  which  call  was  promptly  an- 
swered. Mr.  Lincoln  was  captain  of  one  of  the  companies  from  Sangamon  (as 
I  am  informed,  but  do  not  recollect).  »  *  *  *  •  The  term  of  (Jovernor 
Reynolds'  first  call  being  about  to  expire,  he  made  a  second  call — the  first 
was  then  disbanded.  We  then  raised  several  companies  from  the  disbanded 
troops,  to  remain  and  protect  the  frontier,  until  the  new  levies  could  be  brought 
to  the  field.     I  was  elected  captain  of  one  of  the  companies,  without  opposi- 


20  NOTE. 

tion.  I  had,  as  membeis  of  my  company,  General  James  D.  Henry  (candi- 
date for  sheriff),  John  T.  Stuart,  Achilles  Morris,  and  A.  Lincoln  (candidates 
for  State  legislature).  Stuart  and  Morris  were  elected,  and  Lincoln  badly 
beaten.  At  the  next  regular  election,  Lincoln  was  elected  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing majority.  At  that  election  we  had  seven  representatives  and  two  senators, 
who,  being  all  tall  men,  were  dubbed  the  "long  nine."  Mr.  Lincoln  did  us 
good  service  in  aiding  to  procure  the  State  Capitol  at  Springfield.  A  number 
of  hardy  young  men  from  Sangamon  county,  together  with  several  officers 
from  disbanded  companies  of  other  counties,  were  in  my  company.  I  was 
proud  of  the  men,  and  had  confidence  that  I  had  a  company  that  could  be  re- 
lied upon.  We  were  mustered  into  the  service  on  the  29th  day  of  May,  1832, 
by  Robert  Anderson,  Asst.  Inspector  General.  Several  of  the  companies 
were  put  on  duty  forthwith,  to  range  so  as  to  protect  the  frontier  settlers. 
One  of  the  captains,  being  more  anxious  than  others  to  undertake  a  hazardous 
trip,  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  Dixon's  Ferry,  and  report  to  Col.  Z.  Taylor 
(late  President  Taylor),  who  was  stationed  at  Dixon's,  with  two  companies  of 
U.  S.  troops,  and  thence  to  Galena;  but  before  the  company  got  to  Col.  Tay- 
lor's station,  Mr.  Savre,  the  Indian  agent,  the  mail  carrier,  and  several  others, 
were  murdered,  within  twenty  miles  of  Col.  Taylor's  quarters,  and  all  commu- 
nication cut  off  from  Galena.  On  the  arrival  of  the  company  at  Dixon,  Col. 
Taylor  ordered  the  captain,  who  was  a  brave  man,  to  proceed  to  Galena;  but 
the  men  became  frightened,  and  could  not  be  controlled  by  their  captain,  and 
returned  to  headquarters  at  Ottawa,  helter-skelter. 

Up  to  this  time,  my  company  was  held  in  camp  as  a  reserve.  Gen.  Atkinson 
then  called  on  me,  and  stated  that  he  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  find  out  the 
whereabouts  of  the  Indians,  by  the  time  the  new  levies  would  arrive;  and 
wished  to  know  how  many  in  my  company  I  could  take,  well  mounted  and 
well  armed,  and  at  what  time  I  could  be  ready  to  march,  on  a  trip  to  Dixon's 
P'erry,  and  to  report  to  Col.  Taylor  for  further  orders.  I  said  to  the  General 
that  I  could  give  him  an  answer  within  an  hour.  I  then  paraded  my  men,  ex- 
plained the  matter,  and  found  the  men  anxious  for  the  trip;  and  within  the 
hour  I  reported  to  the  general  that  I  had  fifty  men  in  my  company,  well 
mounted  and  well  armed,  and  that  we  wanted  one  day  to  prepare  for  the  trip. 
This  was  at  night.  The  next  day  was  a  busy  day  with  the  boys — cleaning 
guns,  running  bullets,  picking  flints,  etc.,  etc.;  (we  used  the  old  flint  lock  at 
that  day).  Most  of  the  company  had  doubled-barreled  guns,  and  the  U.  S. 
officers  furnished  us  with  holster  and  belt  pistols.  We  expected  to  have  to 
fight  our  way  from  Dixon  to  Galena,  and  took  no  camp  equipage  or  stores, 
other  than  a  blanket,  a  tin  cup,  and  a  wallet  of  bread  and  bacon. 

At  Dixon,  we  found  Col.  Taylor  entrenched  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river. 
We  encamped  on  the  south  bank  for  that  night.  I  reported  to  him,  and  he 
said  he  wished  me  to  proceed  to  Galena,  and  to  call  for  my  orders  and  rations, 
which  would  be  prepared  for  us  in  the  morning.  Our  rations  consisted  of 
bread,  boiled  ham,  and  bacon.  My  orders  were,  to  proceed  to  Galena,  collect 
and  bury  the  remains  of  Savre  and  others  who  had  been  killed  by  the  Indians, 
make  a  careful  search  for  the  signs  of  Indians,  take  the  Gratiot  road  going 
and  the  Apple  river  road  returning  from  Galena,  find  out,  if  possible,  whether 
the  Indians  had  crossed  the  road  toward  the  Mississippi,  below  Galena,  and  to 


NOTK.  21 

gain  all  possible  information  at  CJalena  of  the  whereabouts  of  the  hulians.  (I 
know  Col.  Taylor  thought  it  a  perilous  trip  for  my  small  command.)  John 
Dixon  and  a  U.  S.  lieutenant  named  Harris  accompanieil  us  from  Dixon's 
Ferry. 

The  first  evening  after  we  left  Dixon  our  scouts  came  in  under  whip  and 
reported  a  large  number  of  Indians  coming  directly  toward  us.  It  was  just 
at  sunset,  while  we  were  at  lunch,  and  from  our  position  we  could  see  them 
one  and  a  half  miles  ofT.  All  eyes  were  turned  to  John  Dixon,  who,  after 
they  came  over  a  hill  into  a  valley  out  of  sight,  pronounced  "Indians"  (but 
they  proved  to  be  General  Dodge's  command  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  on 
their  way  to  find  out  what  had  become  of  General  Atkinson  and  the  troops 
under  his  command).  I  ordered  the  horses  driven  back  to  a  valley  out  of 
sight,  and  paraded  the  company  and  stationed  it  in  the  bed  of  a  dry  ravine  at 
the  crossing  of  the  road,  which  hid  us  from  view  until  they  could  get  within 
fifty  yards  of  us.  I  then  told  General  Henry  to  take  command.  His  answer 
was,  ^^ Stand  to  your  />ost."  He  passed  along  the  line  talking  to  the  men  in  a 
low,  calm  voice.  Lieutenant  Harris  appeared  much  agitated;  he  rati  up  and 
down  the  line,  but  after  seeing  the  effect  of  General  Henry's  talk  to  the  men, 
whispered  to  me,  "There  is  no  danger,  we  can  whip  five  hundred."  Our 
arms  were  all  re-primed,  flints  re-picked,  and  the  holster  pistols  laid  at  our 
feet,  when  the  advance  of  General  Dodge's  company,  instead  of  Indians,  got 
within  fifty  yards  of  us.  Our  men  raised  the  yell  and  ran  back  to  their  lunch. 
One-third  of  the  company  was  put  on  guard  every  night;  the  others  slept  on 
their  arms,  and  were  called  up  and  drilled  four  or  five  times  every  night.  The 
houses  on  our  outward  trip  were  vacated,  and  standing,  but  on  our  return  were 
most  all  burned  down.  On  our  return  to  General  Atkinson's  headquarters, 
and  on  the  arrival  of  the  new  troops,  my  company  was  mustered  out  by  Lieu- 
tenant Robert  Anderson.  My  company  was  again  re-organized  as  a  spy  com- 
pany, and  Dr.  Early  elected  Captain  without  opposition.  Mr.  Lincoln  re- 
mained 'ivith  the  company  to  the  close  of  the  war.  You  ask  for  the  incidents, 
and  I  have  spun  them  out  unreasonably. 

Respectfully  yours,  etc., 

ELIJAH  ILES. 


Chicago   Historical  Society 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  July  ii,  1877, 
Hon.  I.  N.  Arnold,  the  President  of  the  Society,  read  the  following 
sketch  of  the  late 

COL.    JOHN    H.    KINZIE, 

which  he  received  from  Mrs.  Gordon,  and  which  it  is  understood 
was  written  by  the  late  Mrs.  Juliette  A.  Kinzie,  his  wife: 

Col.  John  H.  Kinzie  was  born  at  Sandwich,  U.  C,  on  the  7  th 
of  July,  1803.  It  was  not  by  design  that  his  birthplace  was  in 
the  British  Dominions,  for  his  mother  was  patriotic  beyond  most 
of  her  sex;  but  having  crossed  the  river  from  Detroit,  the  place  of 
her  temporary  sojourn,  to  pass  the  day  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  ^Vil- 
liam  Forsyth,  it  so  happened  that  before  evening  her  eldest  son 
drew  his  first  breath  on  a  foreign  soil.  While  still  an  infant  he 
was  carried  in  an  Indian  cradle,  on  the  shoulders  of  a  French 
"engage,"  to  their  home,  at  what  is  now  the  town  of  Bartram,  on 
the  St.  Joseph  River,  in  Michigan.  At  one  of  their  encampments, 
on  the  journey,  he  made  a  narrow  escape  with  his  life,  owing  to 
the  carelessness  of  his  bearer  in  placing  him  against  a  tree  in  the 
immediate  proximity  of  a  blazing  fire.  A  spark  escaping,  lodged 
in  the  neck  of  his  dress,  causing  a  fearful  burn,  of  which  he  car- 
ried the  mark  ever  after. 

His  father  having  purchased  the  trading  establishment  of  Mons. 
Le  Mai,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  removed  with  his 
family  to  the  place  on  the  following  year.  Some  companies  of 
infantry,  under  command  of  Maj.  John  Whistler,  arrived  at  the 
same  time — 4th  of  July — and  commenced  the  construction  of 
Fort  Dearborn. 

At  his  home,  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  nearly  opposite  the  fort, 
the  childhood  of  Mr.  Kinzie  was  passed,  until  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war  of  181 2. 

The  frontier  at  that  day  aftbrded  no  facilities  for  education. 
What  children  contrived  to  scramble  into  must  be  acquired  under 


SKETCH   OF   COL.  JOHN    H.  KIN/JK.  23 

the  paternal  roof.  Mr.  Kinzie  loved  to  describe  his  delight  upon 
one  occasion,  when  on  the  opening  of  a  chest  of  tea,  among  the 
stores  brought  by  the  annual  schooner,  a  spelling-book  was  drawn 
forth  and  presented  to  him.  His  cousin,  Robert  Forsyth,  at  that 
time  a  member  of  his  father's  family,  undertook  to  teach  him  to 
read,  and,  although  there  seems  to  have  been  but  little  patience 
and  forbearance  on  the  part  of  the  young  pedagogue  to  sweeten 
the  task  of  learning,  the  exercises  gave  to  the  pupil  a  pleasant 
.association  with  the  fragrance  of  green  tea,  which  always  kept  that 
spelling-book  fresh  in  his  mind. 

A  discharged  soldier  was  upon  one  occasion  engaged  to  take 
-charge  of  him,  along  with  the  officer's  children,  but  the  teacher's 
habits  of  drunkenness  and  irregularity  caused  the  school  to  be  dis- 
continued in  less  than  three  months. 

His  best  friend  in  these  days  was  Washington  Whistler,  a  son 
•of  the  commanding  officer,  in  after  years  a  distinguished  civil  engi- 
neer in  his  own  country,  and  in  the  service  of  the  Emperor  of 
Russia. 

AT    THE    TIME    OF    THE    MASSACRE,    IN     l8l2, 

Kinzie  was  nine  years  of  age.  He  preserved  a  distinct  recollec- 
tion of  all  the  particulars  that  came  under  his  own  observation. 
The  discipline  of  these  thrilling  events  doubtless  helped  to  form 
in  him  that  fearlessness  as  well  as  that  self-control  which  charac- 
terized his  manly  years.  The  circumstances  of  the  massacre  are 
familiar  to  all.  'When  the  troops  left  the  garrison,  some  friendly 
chiefs,  knowing  what  was  in  contemi^lation  by  their  young  men, 
who  would  not  be  restrained,  took  possession  of  the  boat  in  which 
was  Mrs.  Kinzie  and  her  children,  and  guarded  them  safely  till 
the  fighting  was  over.  They  were  the  next  day  escorted  by  the 
Chief  "Robinson,"  and  other  friends,  in  their  boat,  to  the  St. 
Joseph  River,  to  the  home  of  Mme.  Bertrand,  a  sister  of  the  famous 
Chief  To-pee-nee-bee-haw,  w-hence,  after  a  short  sojourn,  they 
were  carried  to  Detroit,  and  delivered  as  prisoners  of  war  to  the 
British  commanding  officer.  Col.  McKee.  The  family,  after  the 
father  rejoined  them  in  the  following  winter,  were  established  in 
the  old  family  mansion,  on  the  corner  of  Jefferson  avenue  and 
Wayne  street,  Detroit. 

One  of  the  saddest  features  of  the  ensuing  winter  was  the  spec- 
•tacle  of  the  suftering  of  the  American  prisoners,  who  were  from 
time  to  time  brought  into  headcjuarters  by  their  Indian  captors. 


24  CHICAGO   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

The  tenderness  of  feeling,  which  was  a  distinguishing  trait  in  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  made  him  ever  foremost  in  his  efforts  to 
bargain  with  the  savages  for  the  ransom  of  the  sufferers,  and  many 
were  thus  rescued,  and  nursed,  and  cared  for — sometimes  to  the 
salvation  of  their  lives,  though  too  often  to  merely  a  mitigation  of 
the  tortures  they  had  undergone.  Mr.  Kinzie,  Sr.,  had  been 
paroled  by  Gen.  Proctor,  but  upon  a  suspicion  that  he  was  in  cor- 
respondence with  (ien.  Harrison,  who  was  known  to  be  meditat- 
ing an  attempt  to  recover  the  city  of  Detroit,  he  was  seized  and 
sent  a  prisoner  to  Canada,  leaving  his  wife  and  young  family  to  be 
cared  for  as  they  might,  until,  after  the  lapse  of  some  months, 
the  capture  of  the  place  by  Gen.  Harrison  secured  them  a  fast 
friend  in  that  noble  and  excellent  man. 

The  father  was  at  length  released  and  restored  to  his  family, 
with  one  solitary  shilling  in  his  pocket.  That  little  coin  has 
always  been  carefully  preserved  by  his  descendants,  as  a  memento 
of  those  troublous  times.  It  so  happened  that  in  Detroit,  as 
upon  more  remote  frontiers,  the  advantages  of  education  were 
extremely  limited.  The  war  had  disarranged  everything.  Dur- 
ing the  four  years'  sojourn  of  the  family  in  this  place  the  children 
had  occasional  opportunities  of  beginning  at  a  school  which  prom- 
ised well,  but  which,  as  a  general  rule,  was  discontinued  at  the- 
end  of  the  first  quarter.  Amid  such  unpropitious  circumstances 
were  the  rising  generation  at  that  day  obliged  to  acquire  what 
degree  of  learning  they  found  it  possible  to  attain. 

In  1816,  the  Kinzie  family 

RETURNED    TO    THEIR    DESOLATED    HOME    IN    CHICAGO. 

The  bones  of  the  murdered  soldiers,  who  had  fallen  four  years^ 
before,  were  still  lying  unburied  where  they  had  fallen.  The 
troops  who  rebuilt  the  fort  collected  and  interred  these  remains.. 
The  coffins  which  contained  them  were  deposited  near  the  bank 
of  the  river,  which  then  had  its  outlet  about  at  the  foot  of  Madi- 
son street.  The  cutting  through  the  sand-bar  for  the  harbor 
caused  the  lake  to  encroach  and  wash  away  the  earth,  exposing^ 
the  long  range  of  coffins  and  their  contents,  which  were  after- 
Avards  cared  for  and  reinterred  by  the  civil  authorities. 

In  the  year  18 18,  when  he  was  in  his  sixteenth  year.  Col.  Kin- 
zie was  taken  by  his  father  to  Mackinaw,  to  be  indentured  to  the 
"American  Fur  Company,"'  and  i)laced  under  the  care  of  Ramsey 


SKETCH   OK   COL.  JOHN    H.  KINZH:.  2$. 

Crooks,  Esq.,  "to  learn,"  as  the  articles  express  it,  "the  art  and 
mystery  of  merchandising  in  all  its  various  parts  and  branches." 

This  engagement  was  for  five  years,  during  which  time  he  was 
never  ofif  the  island,  except  upon  one  occasion,  when  he  was 
taken  by  Mr.  Robert  Stewart,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Crooks  at  the 
head  of  the  company,  to  visit  the  British  officers  at  Unmimond 
Island.  He  was  never  during  this  period  at  an  evening  enter- 
tainment, never  saw  "a  show,"  except  one  representation  by  an 
indifferent  company,  who  had  strayed  up  the  lakes,  of  some  pan- 
tomimes and  tricks  of  sleight  of  hand. 

His  days  were  passed,  from  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  tea- 
time,  in  the  warehouse  or  in  superintending  the  numerous  engages, 
making  up  outfits  for  the  Indian  trade,  or  receiving  the  packs  and 
commodities  which  arrived  from  time  to  time. 

In  the  evening,  he  read  aloud  to  his  kind  and  excellent  friend, 
Mrs.  Stewart,  who  was  unwearied  in  her  efforts  to  supply  the  defi- 
ciencies which  his  unsettled  and  eventful  life  had  made  inevitable. 
To  her  explanations  and  judicious  criticisms  upon  the  books  he 
read,  and  her  patience  in  imparting  knowledge  from  her  own  well- 
stored  mind,  he  was  indebted  for  the  ambition  which  surmounted 
early  disadvantages,  and  made  him  the  equal  of  many  whose 
youthful  years  have  been  trained  in  schools. 

MR.    STEWART    WAS    A    SEVERE    DISCIPLINARIAN. 

He  believed  that  the  surest  way  to  make  of  a  clerk  a  systematic 
and  methodical  man  of  business  was  never  to  overlook  the  slight- 
est departure  from  the  prescribed  routine  of  duty.  Upon  one 
occasion,  young  Kinzie,  out  of  patience  with  the  slow-dragging 
movements  of  a  party  of  his  employes,  who  were  engaged  in 
hauling  wood  in  sledges  across  the  straits  from  Bois  Blank  Island, 
took  the  reins  from  the  hands  of  one,  and  drove  across  and 
returned  with  his  load,  to  show  the  men  how  much  more  they 
could  have  accomplished  if  they  had  made  the  effort.  Mr.  Stew- 
art's commendation  was,  "Ah,  you  have  changed  your  occupa- 
tion for  that  of  hauling  wood,  have  you  I  Very  well,  you  can 
continue  it ;"  and,  as  the  young  man  was  too  proud  to  ask  to  be 
relieved,  he  actually  drove  the  sledge  and  brought  wood  through 
the  bitter  winter  till  the  ice  gave  way  in  May. 

His  chief  recreations  throughout  this  period  were  trapping 
silver-gray  foxes  during  any  chance  leisure  hour  in  the  winter, 


26  CHICAGO   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

and  learning  to  play  on  the  violin,  his  instructress  being  a  half- 
breed  woman.  In  1824,  being  still  in  the  employ  of  the  Fur 
Company,  he  was  transferred  from  Mackinac  to  Prairie  du  Chien. 
He  had  made  a  visit  to  his  parents  on  attaining  his  majority,  and 
had  returned  to  Mackinac  in  a  small  boat,  coasting  the  western 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  He  was  the  first  white  man  who  set 
foot  on  shore  at  Wau-kee-gan — at  least  since  the  days  of  the 
explorers. 

While  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  Mr.  Kinzie  learned  the  Winnebago 
language,  and  compiled  a  grammar,  as  far  as  such  a  task  was 
practicable.  The  Ottawa,  Pottawatomie,  and  Chippewa  dialects, 
he  had  been  familiar  with  from  his  childhood.  He  also  learned 
the  Sioux  language,  and,  partially,  that  of  the  Sauks  and  Foxes.* 

About  this  time.  Col.  Kinzie  received 

AN    INVITATION    FROM    GEN.    CASS, 

then  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  to  become  his 
private  secretary,  and  in  1826,  he  escorted  a  deputation  of 
Winnebagoes  to  Washington  to  visit  their  Great  Father,  the 
President.  He  was  at  the  Treaty  of  "  Butte  des  Morts"  in  the 
summer  of  1827,  and  accompanied  the  Commissioner,  Col. 
McKenny,  to  the  Portage  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Rivers,  to 
be  present  at  the  surrender  of  the  "  Red-Bird,"  a  Winnebago 
chief,  who,  with  his  comrades,  had  been  concerned  in  the  murder 
of  the  Gaznier  family  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  Mr.  Kinzie  took  a 
different  view  of  the  actual  complicity  of  Red-Bird  from  what  has 
been  given  to  the  public.  His  journal,  kept  at  the  time,  is  of 
great  interest.  He  was  called  from  his  station,  beside  the 
military  officer  appointed  to  receive  the  prisoners,  by  Kau-ray- 
man-nee,  the  principal  Chief  of  the  nation,  to  stand  beside  him, 

*  John  H.  Kinzie  and  his  brother  Robert  were  by  adoption  "  Brothers  "  of 
the  Pottawatomie  tribe  of  Indians ;  each  could  speak  the  language  of  this 
and  several  other  tribes;  and  being  unusually  active,  athletic  men,  they  were 
skilful  and  expert  in  all  Indian  games,  and  especially  in  the  Indian  dances. 
It  was  a  not  uncommon  amusement,  in  the  early  days  of  Chicago,  for  John 
and  Robert  Kinzie  to  dress  in  the  Indian  costume,  and  assisted  often  by  Gur- 
don  S.  Hubbard,  to  amuse  their  friends  by  performing  the  Indian  dances. 
The  corn-planting  dance  was  a  very  interesting  pantomime;  and  it  was  the 
war -dance  and  the  warwhoop,  which  they  gave  with  startling  effect,  which 
startled  the  ladies,  and  often  brought  pallor  to  their  cheeks,  in  our  social 
gatherings  in  those  early  days. — Hon.  I.  N.  Ar)iold. 


SKETCH   OK   COL.  JOHN    H.  KINZH-:.  2/ 

and  listen  to  what  was  said  on  both  sides  at  this  interview,  and 
tell  him  whether  his  speech  to  the  "  Big  Knives"  and  their  reply 
to  him  were  rightly  interpreted. 

During  the  time  of  his  residence  with  (Jen.  Cass,  who  was  by 
virtue  of  his  ai)pointnient,  also  Superintendent  of  the  Northern 
Division  of  the  Indian  Tribes,  he  was  sent  to  the  vicinity  of 
Sandusky,  to  learn  the  language  of  the  Wyandots,  or  Hurons, 
their  manners  and  customs,  legends,  traditions,  etc.  Of  this 
language  he  also  compiled  a  grammar.  The  large  amount  of 
Indian  lore  which  he  collected  in  these  various  researches,  were, 
of  course,  placed  in  the  hands  of  his  chief,  Gen.  Cass ;  and  it  is 
greatly  to  be  regretted  that,  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  not  a 
trace  of  it  now  remains  extant. 

MR.    KIXZIE    RECEIVED    THE    APPOINTMENT    OF    AGENT 

for  the  upper  bands  of  the  Winnebagoes  in  1829,  and  fixed  his 
residence  at  the  portage,  where  Fort  Winnebago  was  in  that  year 
constructed.  In  1830,  he  married,  and  continued  to  reside 
among  his  red  children^to  whom  he  was,  and  is  still  proclaimed 
by  the  oppressed  few  who  remain,  a  kind,  judicious,  and  watchful 
"father."'  In  1833,  the  Kinzie  family  having  established  their 
pre-emption  to  the  quarter  section  upon  which  the  family  mansion 
had  stood  since  1804,  Col.  Kinzie  (such  was  then  his  title  as  aid 
to  the  Commander-in-Chief,  Gov.  Cass,)  came  with  his  brother- 
in-law.  Gen.  Hunter,  to  Chicago,  and  together  they  laid  out  that 
part  of  the  town  since  known  as  Kinzie's  Addition. 

In  1834,  he  brought  his  family  to  Chicago  to  reside.  He  was 
the  first  President  of  the  \illage,  when  a  prediction  of  the  present 
opulence  and  prosperity  of  the  city  would  have  seemed  the 
wildest  chimera. 

He  was  appointed  Collector  of  Tolls  on  the  canal  immediately 
on  its  completion. 

In  1 841,  he  was  made  Registrar  of  Public  Lands  by  Gen. 
Harrison,  but  was  removed  b}'  Tyler,  when  he  laid  aside  the 
mask  under  which  he  gained  the  nomination  for  Vice-President. 

In  1849,  Gen.  Taylor  conferred  upon  him  the  appointment  of 
Receiver  of  Public  Moneys  and  I  )epositary. 

His  oflfice  of  Collector  he  held  until  conmiissioned  by  President 
IJncoln  as 

PAYMASTER    IN    THE    ARMY    IN     1 86 1 . 

The    latter   appointment    he    held    until   the  close  of  the  War. 


28  CHICAGO    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

His  labors  were  vast  and  wearying,  for  he  had  the  supervision  of 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Illinois  ;  yet  he  was  too  conscientious, 
in  the  state  of  the  public  finances,  to  apply  for  more  aid.  During 
the  four  years  he  discharged  this  large  amount  of  duty  with  the 
assistance  of  but  a  solitary  clerk.  It  was  too  much  for  him ;  his 
health  gave  way.  When  a  tardy  leave  of  absence  arrived,  he  set 
out  with  his  family  upon  a  journey,  in  hopes  that  mountain  air  or 
sea-bathing  would  recruit  his  exhausted  forces.  But  he  was 
destined  to  reach  hardly  the  first  stage  of  his  journey.  While 
riding  in  the  cars  approaching  Pittsburgh,  and  conversing  with 
his  ordinary  cheerfulness,  he  remarked  a  blind  man  approaching, 
and,  perceiving  that  he  was  asking  alms,  he  characteristically  put 
his  hand  in  his  pocket.  In  the  act,  his  head  drooped  gently,  and 
with  a  peaceful  sigh,  his  spirit  departed  to  its  rest. 


NOTE  FROM   NELLY  KINZIE  GORDON. 


Since  the  foregoing  sketch  was  read,  I  have  received  a  note  from  Mrs. 
Nelly  Kinzie  Gordon,  daughter  of  John  H.  Kinzie,  saying:  "It  (the  sketch) 
was  written  by  my  mother,  as  you  suppose.  I  note  Mr.  Hinkling's  remarks  as 
to  Grandfather  Kinzie's  Indian  name.  The  name  was  ' S/una-nee-au-kee,' 
which  means  '  The  Silver  Man;'  a  name  given  to  him,  I  have  frequently 
heard  father  say,  because  he  paid  the  Indians  in  silver.  *  *  * 

I  have  the  dictionary  and  grammar  of  the  Winnebago  language  written  by 
my  father.  If  the  Society  would  value  it,  I  will  send  it  to  you.  I  value  it, 
and  shall  always  preserve  it;  but  if  it  will  be  kept,  and  placed  as  a  relic  of 
old  times,  by  the  Historical  Society,  1  will  turn  it  over  to  them.  Chicago  has 
a  right  to  all  those  old  mementoes,  and  your  Society  will  be  the  proper  deposit 
for  them. " 


MR.    ARNOLDS    NOTES.  29 

Mr.  Arnold  adds  the  following  notes: 

JOHNSON  rs.  JONES. 

On  the  23rd  of  March,  i860,  the  trial  of  the  case  of  W.  S.  Johnson  vs. 
William  Jones,  began  in  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court,  before  the  Hon.  Thomas 
Drummond.  The  trial  involved  the  title  to  a  large  tract  of  land,  lying  north 
of  the  North  Pier  of  the  harbor  of  Chicago,  being  the  accretion  caused  by  the 
running  of  the  piers  into  Lake  Michigan.  It  became  important  to  establish 
the  exact  location  of  the  Lake  shore,  at  the  time  when  Kinzie's  Addition  to 
Chicago  was  laid  out,  platted,  and  recorded  in  February,  1833.  Many  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Chicago  were  examined  as  witnesses,  and  the  volume  of  printed 
evidence  will  throw  considerable  light  upon  the  early  history  of  Chicago. 

Among  the  persons  whose  testimony  was  taken  were  John  A.  Kinzie,  Gur- 
don  S.  Hubbard,  Cieo.  W.  Snow,  John  Calhoun,  Asa  F.  Bradley,  Morgan 
Shepley,  E.  B.  Talcott,  Col.  William  Gamble,  Geo.  W.  Dole,  Gen.  J.  D. 
Webster,  William  Lill,  Thomas  Church,  Walter  Kimball,  and  others. 

The  counsel  for  the  plaintiff  were  B.  S.  Morris  and  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  as- 
sisted by  John  A.  Wills.  For  the  defendant — Abraham  Lincoln,  J.  Young 
vScammon,  Samuel  W.  Fuller,  Van  H.  Higgins,  and  John  Van  Arman. 

This  was  the  last  case  tried  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  before  his  nomination  for  the 
Presidency  in  June,  i860. 

John  H.  Kinzie  was  examined  as  a  witness.  To  the  question  of  Mr.  Arnold, 
"How  long  have  you  resided  in  Chicago?"  Mr.  Lincoln  interposed,  saying, 
"I  believe  he  is  common  law  here;  as  one  who  dates  back  to  the  time  whereof 
the  memory  of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary. " 

Kinzie,  in  answer,  said:  "I  was  brought  here  about  fifty-six  years  ago, 
and  I  spent  the  early  part  of  my  life  here  up  to  1812.  I  was  away  four  years, 
and  returned  in  1816.  I  went  away,  and  returned  again  in  1824.  Went  away 
that  year,  and  returned  in  1833,  and  have  lived  here  ever  since.  My  father's 
house  stood  near  a  great  cottonwood  tree,  near  the  corner  of  Pine  and  North 
Water  streets.  That  tree  was  cut  down  when  John  Wentworth  was  Mayor. 
I  planted  that  tree  in  181 1.  [See  John  Kinzie's  testimony  in  pages  27,  28,  etc.] 
The  Chicago  river  bent  and  ran  south  from  our  house.  After  runnmg  south 
as  far  as  Madison  street,  it  emptied  into  Lake  Michigan,  opposite  the  end  of 
Madison  street.  There  was  a  piazza  running  the  whole  front  of  our  house, 
looking  south.  Sitting  there  on  this  piazza,  we  could  see  the  Indian  canoes 
going  down  and  into  the  Lake,  opposite  where  Madison  street  now  is. " 


THE  KINZIE  HOUSE. 

The  residence  of  John  Kinzie,  the  father  of  Col.  John  H.  Kinzie,  was  situ- 
ated near  the  junction  of  I'ine  and  North  Water  Sts.  It  \Nas  a  picturesque 
cottage  of  wood,  a  fine  sketch  of  which  faces  the  title-page  of  the  second  edi- 
tion of  "  Wal-Bi'N,"  a  very  graphic  and  extremely  interesting  pen-picture  of 
the  early  days  in  the  North-west,  written  by  the  late  Mrs.  John  H.  Kinzie. 

In  the  early  days,  before  Chicago  existed  as  a  town  or  city,  and  while  it  was 
a  mere  military  and  Indian  trading-post,  the  grounds  about  the  old  Kinzie 
House,  sloping  gently  toward  the  bank  of  the  river,  were  covered  with  grass, 
and  the  broad  piazza,  looking  South,  was  pleasantly  shaded  by  four  Lombardy 


30  CHICAGO   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

poplar  trees;  and  in  the  rear  was  a  large  Cottonwood  tree,  planted  by  John  H. 
Kinzie,  in  i8il,  and  which  remained  standing  until  some  time  during  the  first 
Mayoralty  of  John  Wentworth,  when  the  growth  of  the  city  required,  or  was 
supposed  to  require,  that  it  should  be  cut  down. 

Nearly  opposite,  across  the  river,  stood  Fort  Dearborn,  with  its  neat, 
well -whitewashed  pickets  of  logs  set  in  the  ground;  its  barracks  and  offi- 
cers' quarters  built  of  hewn  logs;  its  green  parade,  shaded  in  part  by  some 
fine,  well-grown  locust  trees;  and  here,  for  many  years,  from  the  tall  tlag-staff, 
floated  the  national  colors.  This  old  fort,  with  its  picturesque  surroundings, 
the  then  clear  waters  of  the  Chicago  River,  a  grove  of  scattered  trees  to  the 
North,  made  up  a  scene  which  would  contrast  very  strikingly  with  the  great 
city  which  has  arisen. 

Mr.  John  H.  Kinzie  often  recalled  the  beauty  of  the  scene  when  the  Indian 
canoe  and  the  Mackinaw  boat  alone  disturbed  the  waters  of  the  Lake  and 
River.  I  have  heard  him  speak  of  the  Kinzie  family's  being  aroused,  one 
bright  morning  in  June,  in  perhaps  the  year  1832,  by  hearing  from  up  the 
River  the  chorus  of  Moore's  beautiful  Canadian  boat  song,  sung  by  a  dozen 
voyageurs,  and  going  to  the  piazza,  he  saw  Gen.  Lewis  Cass  and  party  coming 
rapidly  down  the  stream  in  his  Mackinaw  boat.  The  landscape  was  then 
rural  and  lovely,  Chicago  a  little  hamlet,  far  away  from  civilization;  and  yet 
Col.  Kinzie  lived  to  see  this  hamlet  changed  to  the  home  of  nearly  half  a. 
million  of  people.  

ST.  JAMES'  CHURCH. 

John  H.  Kinzie  and  Mrs.  Juliette  A.  Kinzie,  with  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  may 
be  considered,  more  than  any  others,  the  founders  of  St.  James'  Church.  Others 
aided  and  contributed,  but  the  Kinzie  family  took  the  lead.  The  parish  was 
organized  in  1834,  and  on  the  12th  of  October,  1834,  Rev.  Isaac  W.  Hallam 
arrived  in  ("hicago,  and  took  charge  of  the  parish. 

The  first  regular  services  were  held  in  a  room  in  a  wooden  building  standing 
on  the  corner  of  Wolcott  (now  N.  State)  and  Kinzie  Streets,  fitted  up  by  Mr. 
Kinzie  and  others  as  a  place  of  worship,  and  which  afterwards,  being  used  in. 
the  Presidential  campaign  of  1840,  as  a  place  for  political  meetings,  was 
named  "Tippecanoe  Hall." 

In  1835  or  1836,  John  H.  Kinzie  donated  two  lots  on  the  south-east  corner  of 
Cass  and  Illinois  Streets,  as  a  .site  for  the  Church  edifice,  and  in  1836-1837,  a 
brick  church  was  erected  thereon.  On  the  26th  of  March,  1837,  the  body  of 
the  church  was  first  occupied  for  public  service.  The  entire  cost  of  the  church, 
exclusive  of  the  organ,  was  $14,000.  On  the  Monday  following  the  first 
service,  most  of  the  seats  and  pews  were  sold  at  auction,  and  brought  the  sum 
of  $13,862,  which,  with  subscriptions  and  the  proceeds  of  a  fair,  paid  the  cost 
of  the  church,  and  left  a  balance  of  $4,000,  which  was  used  towards  the 
erection  of  a  rectory.  [A/os/  of  the  above  facts  I  gather  from  a  letter  of  the  Rro. 
Isaac  W.  Hallam.^ 

At  the  home  of  John  H.  Kinzie  (standing  on  the  n.e.  cor.  of  Cass  and  Michigan 
Streets),  the  Bishops  and  clergy  of  the  Diocese  of  Illinois  were  always  welcome. 
The  Venerable  Bishop  Chase  always  found  there  a  home  and  a  genial  welcome. 
Indeed,  the  hospitality  of  the  Kinzie  family  was  proverbial  all  over  the  North-^ 


MR.   ARNOLDS    NOTES.  $1 

West.  In  the  reminiscences  of  Bishop  Chase,  published  in  two  volumes,  by 
James  B.  Dow,  Boston,  1848,  this  family  is  spoken  of.  In  a  letter  on  p.  389, 
dated  Monday,  July  26,  1837,  the  good  old  Bishop  says:  "The  consecration 
of  S/.  jfarnes'  Church,  Chicago,  took  place  yesterday,  at  half-past  ten.  The 
church  was  filled  to  overflowing,  even  before  the  Bishop  met  the  wardens  and 
vestry  at  the  door.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Hallam  read  the  morning  prayers,  and 
myself  the  anti-communion  and  sermon.  Text:  'The  Lord  is  in  this  place. 
This  is  none  other  than  the  House  of  God,  and  this  the  gate  of  heaven.'  The 
whole  number  of  communicants  is  now  about  thirty.  'I  went  to  the  Kinzies. 
Mrs.  Magill,  and  all  the  young,  and  Mrs.  K.  were  most  attentive  to  my  every 
want,  etc." 

Indeed,  such  was  the  prominence  and  activity  of  Mrs.  John  H.  Kinzie,  in 
the  early  days  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  Illinois,  that  she  was 
sometimes  called  "  The  Female  Bishop  of  Illinois. " 


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